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PODCAST

Cold War Conversations Podcast

Experience the Cold War like never before with Cold War Conversations — an award-winning podcast recommended by The New York Times. Each week, host Ian Sanders brings you raw, firsthand accounts from the people who lived through one of history’s most tense and transformative eras — soldiers, spies, civilians, and more. These aren’t stories from textbooks. They’re unfiltered voices from the frontlines of history — emotional, gripping, and deeply human. This is Cold War history, told from

history documentary

All Episodes

82:15

Twilight of the Soviet Union – Memoirs of a British...

Cold War Conversations Podcast ·

2023/12/30

Kate is sent to Moscow in 1985 to write articles for The Morning Star, a left-wing British daily newspaper founded in 1930 as the Daily Worker by the Communist Party of Great Britain. She lives in a block of flats alongside Soviet citizens and enrols her 3 children in Soviet schools. Three weeks after Kate arrives Mikhail Gorbachev comes to power and she finds herself having to cover the disorientating number of rapid reforms and attacks on the Soviet system by its leadership for a newspaper, that

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60:55

Further Cold War Tank Tales from the Land Down Under...

Cold War Conversations Podcast ·

2023/12/23

Tim participates in Kangaroo 89, a huge military exercise with the entire Australian Army using an area the size of Western Europe and we hear about the Australian equivalent of Wolfgang the Bratty Man who used to turn up on British exercises in Germany. Tim was also part of an exchange program with the British Army and he describes his experiences there and the advantages and disadvantages between Leopard 1 and the British Challenger 1 tank Tim also worked with the Bundeswehr where he had a

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72:24

How To Catch A Cold War Spy (323)

Cold War Conversations Podcast ·

2023/12/16

Since 1985, Ana Montes has been an asset of the Cuban intelligence service. In that time, she’s risen through the ranks to become one of the Pentagon’s most respected voices on Cuban affairs with easy access to classified documents. Peter Lapp reveals Montez's tradecraft and how the FBI found the proverbial "needle in a haystack". To learn more about the woman labelled "one of the most damaging spies in U.S. history" by America's top counter-intelligence official listen to episode 277. Buy the

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59:23

Cold War, Warm Hearts - Hitchhiking behind the 1960s...

Cold War Conversations Podcast ·

2023/12/09

In 1966 most of Bridget’s friends, in their early twenties, were settling down with jobs and/or husbands… She, on the other hand, set off alone to travel across Poland relying on the kindness of strangers. Fascinated by what she experienced she continued to wander the highways and byways of, Hungary Czechoslovakia, Romania, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia for the next couple of years seeking out remote rural communities almost untouched by the passage of time... Bridget travelled with virtually no money,

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60:53

Cold War Tank Tales from the Land Down Under (321)

Cold War Conversations Podcast ·

2023/12/02

Many of Tim’s family had served in WW1 and WW2 and from a young age, he was determined to follow their path. Overcoming huge competition for places he became a driver of the Leopard AS1 MBT at 1st Armoured Regiment of the Australian Army. Australia is largely ignored in most Cold War histories, however, we hear how the Australian Army prepared to fight the Musorians, a thinly disguised notional enemy which was obviously the Soviets or one of their satellites in everything but name. Photos, videos

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87:09

Jack's dramatic Cold War escape across the fortified...

Cold War Conversations Podcast ·

2023/11/25

Jack Wesolek was born in East Germany in 1966. His grandfather was a member of the Red Orchestra, a Communist Anti-Nazi resistance organisation in Germany during World War 2. He later became Chief of the Signals Service of the Volksmarine, the East German Navy. In the 1980s an East German Army signals regiment was named after him. Jack’s father was an actor and we discuss how accurate the depiction of East German actors is in the film “The Lives of Others”. At age 6 his parents divorce and Jack

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51:57

How President Kennedy's assassination almost started...

Cold War Conversations Podcast ·

2023/11/22

On 23rd Nov 1963 at Kunsan Air Base, South Korea a detachment of US Air Force B-57 Canberra bombers were parked on an alert pad each with a live nuclear weapon in their bomb bay and ready to fly at a moment’s notice. At 0400 klaxon horns aroused the crews from their slumber and they rushed to their waiting aircraft, for what they likely thought was just one more drill But this morning was different. As the crew strapped themselves into their cockpits, they were told to await a signal to fly their

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49:15

The lazy schoolboy who became a Cold War Vulcan...

Cold War Conversations Podcast ·

2023/11/18

Kevin was born in Wigan in North West England and joined the RAF as an apprentice in 1956 with only 3 O Levels. He came top of his course but was posted into supplies at RAF St Mawgan. However, he quickly became in charge of their clothing stores and via a fortuitous route became a trainee pilot. By May 1963 he joined the RAF V Force as a Vulcan pilot and served with 44 Squadron where Vulcan crews were being converted to low-level flying. He describes the challenges of low-level flying, Vulcan

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43:17

Across the Iron Curtain in a yellow MG Midget sports...

Cold War Conversations Podcast ·

2023/11/11

Andrew McNeile decided to travel through Eastern Europe in a yellow MG Midget Sports car, a car that's going to stand out no matter where you are! He recalls his adventures travelling through East Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Romania, and Yugoslavia He talks about the warmth and friendliness of people, challenges with petrol quality, and an accidental visit to a nudist beach. Peter Ryan is your host today and I’m delighted to welcome Andrew McNeile to our Cold War

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61:43

1983 - the year the Cold War almost turned hot (316)

Cold War Conversations Podcast ·

2023/11/04

This week is the 40th anniversary of the Able Archer NATO Exercise where it is reckoned that the Soviet Union and NATO almost started a nuclear war. 1990 an investigation by the US President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, culminating in its highly secret report “The Soviet ‘War Scare’” The detailed PFIAB report concluded that the U.S. “may have inadvertently placed our relations with the Soviet Union on a hair trigger”. The following is an audio version of the talk I delivered to the

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74:38

Serving in a Cold War Danish Reconnaissance Squadron...

Cold War Conversations Podcast ·

2023/10/27

Denmark joined NATO as a founding member in 1949. However, it originally laid down limitations to NATO membership, effectively excluding the country from full military integration. The conditions were threefold: no non-Danish bases, no nuclear warheads, and no Allied military activity on Danish territory. Bo Hermansen served in a conscript reconnaissance platoon of the Danish Jutland Dragoon Regiment during the 1980s. His squadron was part of the divisional reconnaissance for the Danish Jutland

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93:25

The Cold War Atomic Spies (314)

Cold War Conversations Podcast ·

2023/10/20

On 29 August 1949 at 7:00 a.m. the Soviet Union exploded its first atomic bomb. The test stunned the Western powers. American intelligence had estimated that the Soviets would not produce an atomic weapon until 1953, while the British did not expect it until 1954. The speed at which the Soviet Union developed their bomb was due a network of spies from the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada who gave the Soviet Union the necessary information to develop an atomic bomb They were motivated

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93:17

Spying on NATO from a Cold War East German Army radio...

Cold War Conversations Podcast ·

2023/10/13

This is the second part of my chat with Thomas who worked in a secret East German radio monitoring base. He describes how a BRIXMIS or another Allied Military Liason Mission vehicle had once got into the base and what the East German Army was told about MLM capabilities. When the officers aren’t around he and his comrades listen to Western radio and watch Western TV. Gorbachev is now in power and liberalisation has now started in the Soviet Union and the East German government worries about

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79:38

Spying on NATO from a Cold War East German Army radio...

Cold War Conversations Podcast ·

2023/10/06

Born in 1968 in East Germany Thomas had a "normal socialist" but happy childhood in a small town near Dresden. His family was viewed as exotic at that time as his mother had Hungarian citizenship which allowed her to travel to West Berlin. He was conscripted into the East German Army and signed up for 3 years as an Unteroffizier (NCO) instead of one and a half years of compulsory service. After training he is posted to a radio reconnaissance battalion based on the top of a mountain in the middle of

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60:18

Cold War US Army tank gunner serves with a Bundeswehr...

Cold War Conversations Podcast ·

2023/09/29

Mark joined the US Army on January 6th, 1981, and went to Ft Knox KY for Basic and Armor training. He graduated in April 1981 and was selected as Instructor Tank commander and trained the next cycle of recruits till August 1981. Mark was posted to West Germany in September 1981 and was assigned to 1st 37th Armor 1st Armored Div based in Katterbach. When he arrived they were just turning in their M60A2s for the M60A3s. Mark was made a gunner on C-22 as an E-2 private which is rare. He was also picked

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101:08

Uncovering Cold War Soviet secrets with the USAF and...

Cold War Conversations Podcast ·

2023/09/22

Tim served in the USAF and the NSA from 1975 to 1988 during some of the most tense periods of the Cold War. This included stints at the US Air Force Electronic Warfare Center at Kelly AFB, Texas, and RAF Chicksands, in the UK working on SIGINT collection of USSR/Warsaw Pact/Other targets. He also served as part of the Cryptologic Support Group, Strategic Air Command HQ, Offutt AFB, Nebraska providing SIGINT briefings to SAC leadership on worldwide events In 1983 he transferred to the NSA and later

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31:51

REME Keeping the British Army on the road during the...

Cold War Conversations Podcast ·

2023/09/15

Aged 16 Chris joined the British Army apprentice school in Arborfield, at Princess Marina College. He was trained as a vehicle mechanic in the Royal Electrical Mechanical Engineers otherwise known as REME. We talk about life expectancy in war scenarios, experiences with crash-out exercises, and life as a British soldier in West Germany Chris also served Post-Wall Berlin with the Military Police and describes an interesting “secret” job he was involved in. The episode was recorded at one of the Hack

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89:23

Gunfire in the Woods: A foiled escape and...

Cold War Conversations Podcast ·

2023/09/08

This is part two of Henrik’s story. You can hear the first part in episode 307. https://coldwarconversations.com/episode307 It’s the late 1980s and Henrik and his friends plan to escape from East Germany via Czechoslovakia. Henrik provides a very vivid account of their discovery by Czechoslovak border guards in a forest near the Austrian border. He describes the moment the guards open fire to get them to stop. Henrik is separated from his friends and held in various Czechoslovak prisons, before

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74:32

Growing up in Cold War East Germany's Valley of the...

Cold War Conversations Podcast ·

2023/09/01

Henrik was born in the late 1960s near Dresden in East Germany. The area was sarcastically known as the Tal der Ahnungslosen or Valley of the Clueless, as the area generally was not able to receive TV from West Germany from the mid-to-late 1950s. He describes his childhood growing up in a Uranium mining area. His mother was a teacher and his father was required to be a member of the Communist Party as his role at the university involved in map making which was classified as secret work. It’s not

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49:33

Flying the Cold War A10 Tankbuster Part 2 (306)

Cold War Conversations Podcast ·

2023/08/25

You are listening to part 2 of my chat with Joe who joined the USAF in 1981 and was trained to fly the A10 Warthog a single-seat, twin-engine jet aircraft designed to provide close air support to ground forces by attacking tanks, armoured vehicles, and other ground targets. Part 1 is here https://coldwarconversations.com/episode305/ In 1985 Joe is sent to 92nd Tactical Fighter Squadron at RAF Bentwaters in the UK, just over 50 miles from where his father served in World War 2. His role was to fly

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445 results

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